The Village Voice, the nation's largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced today the 54th Annual OBIE awards will take place on Monday, May 18,2009 at the newly landmarked Webster Hall in the East Village.
The OBIES will be co-hosted by Martha Plimpton and Daniel Breaker at an invitation-only ceremony. A list of notable presenters will be released soon.
Martha Plimpton won an OBIE in 2002 for her performance in Hobson's Choice. She charmed us as Gladys Bumps in this season's revival of Pal Joey. Ms. Plimpton moves elegantly between the stage, television and film.
Daniel Breaker is a 2008 OBIE Award winner for his performance in the ensemble cast of Passing Strange and is appearing on Broadway now in the musical Shrek. Trained at Juilliard, Mr. Breaker is an accomplished actor, singer and dancer.
For the past half-century, the The Village Voice Obie Awards have honored the best of Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. Structured with informal categories that change annually, The Village Voice Obie Awards recognize persons and productions of excellence. Unlike most theater awards, The Village Voice Obie Awards have no nominations. In the conviction that creativity is not competitive, judges may give several Obies in each category, and may even invent new categories to reward artistic merit. 
The Voice's chief theater critic, Michael Feingold, chairs the Obie Awards committee again this year. His fellow judges include Voice critic Alexis Soloski and six guest judges: Eric Grode, freelance critic and Voice contributor; critic Andy Propst, AmericanTheaterWeb.com, also a frequent Voice contributor; Eisa Davis, actress-playwright, Obie Award winner for her performance last year in Passing Strange, and author of the upcoming Angela's Mixtape; Ty Jones, actor-playwright, 2003 Obie Award winner for his performance in The Blacks (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Moises Kaufman, playwright-director, 2004 Obie Award winner for his direction of I Am My Own Wife, and author of current Broadway hit 33 Variations ; Chay Yew, playwright-director, 2007 Obie Award winner for his direction of Durango (Public Theater) and this season Antebellum. Mr. Propst will also serve as secretary to the committee.
NEW ! This year, in addition to celebrating the Off-Broadway community with the Obie Awards themselves, the Village Voice is introducing Creative Block & OBIES AFTER PARTY, a huge multidisciplinary arts event that will include burlesque, digital art, performance art, dance and fiber arts from New York's creative emerging artists and avant-garde underground. Running in tandem with the awards ceremony, Creative Block will also be held in Webster Hall's rooms with diverse and innovative talents from across many disciplines, adding to both the fun and spirit of the Obie Awards. Michael Musto who chronicles nightlife, society and the arts for the Village Voice where he writes the weekly column La Dolce Musto and has been named a host and spokesperson for Creative Block.
The evening will culminate with a celebratory after-party featuring the well-known DJ Randy Bettis. He has a theater background and has garnered a loyal following from his work at legendary New York City nightclubs such as Sound Factory, and Stereo.
Tickets for Creative Block will be available beginning April 1, 2009 for $15. General admission beginning 8:30 pm.
For more information about the 54th Annual Village Voice OBIE Awards and a complete schedule for the first-ever Creative Block and where to purchase tickets, please visit www.villagevoice.com/Obies
Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
